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First things first, I have to confess that I’ve never been a big fan of the typical Japanese sports films: while some of them are admittedly brimming with life-affirming inspiration, I’ve also endured my fair share of over-dramatised cliché-a-thons. It was precisely with this in mind that I first saw the poster of Dive!! – which showcases three pretty boys in their swim briefs – and was left more than a little underwhelmed. I mean, can you not sense the wave of cheesiness in the pair of exclamation marks in the title?

Naoto Kumazawa’s new film is a teenage drama revolving around the Mizuki Diving Club, whose sponsors are about to pull the plug unless – there’s always an ‘unless’ in these stories, no? – they have a member qualified for the Olympics in a year’s time. Under the guidance of their new coach, Kayoko Asaki (Asaka Seto), three teenagers of vastly different backgrounds fight to make the grade. Tomoki (Kento Hayashi) is raised in a non-sports family, but found diving by chance while still a little boy; his elitist teammate Yoichi (Sosuke Ikematsu), son of the main coach, trains with the burden of keeping the organisation running; while rounding out the trio is a defiant outcast, Shibuki (Junpei Mizobata), who wishes to continue his grandfather’s glorious legacy in the sport.

Being an adaptation of a popular novel series (there’s already been a comic book adaptation), it is to be expected that the film would have its tacky moments. For instance, there are made-up terminologies that sound incredibly contrived in a live-action film (like ‘diamond eyes’ and ‘the dragon’), and, as in many Japanese youth dramas, the film is populated by a bunch of over-zealous supporting characters who can’t seem to stop shouting encouragement or exaggerating remarks.

Nevertheless, in this follow-up to his bittersweet 2006 film, the Shunji Iwai-produced Rainbow Song, director Kumazawa does continue to display his exquisite sensibility in observing his young characters’ deeper concerns, which are dramatic in nature but never overplayed. Essentially a character study filled with pleasant moments, Dive!! is a quietly enchanting experience with youthful vibrancy to spare. Edmund Lee